good evening. a senior conservative mp says the uk must do more to support ukraine as russian troops mass along its border. tobias ellwood, who chairs the commons defence committee, says he thinks an invasion could now be "imminent" and that president putin is "taking full advantage of a weakened west". russia has denied it's planning an invasion. but the us has delivered 90 tonnes of what it calls �*lethal aid' to ukraine, the first shipment since a fresh promise of assistance from president biden. james waterhouse reports now from the ukrainian capital, kyiv. the friendship of nations arch, built by the soviets to celebrate the closeness between russians and ukrainians. that crack was painted on by activists in a few years ago as relations between the two countries deteriorated. and as talks intensify about a possible invasion, the hope is things don't break down completely. tensions are still rising on the border. today russian jets made their way to joint military drills with neighbouring belarus. ukrainian ministers have welcomed the delivery of us military equipment, and now a call for the uk to step up its own support. the british government has delivered 2000 anti—tank missiles this week and says it is open to sending more weapons. what we have seen over the last few months with diplomatic talks failing, putin's ultimatum demanding nato push back, of course that was dismissed, but that has given him the pretext to actually say that there is an aggressor and that he must act. he has actually boxed himself into a corner because so much effort has been put into this. but he also recognised that he will never again be as strong as this to take advantage of the west's weakness. i expect an invasion is now imminent. so, does kyiv feel like a city preparing for an invasion? evelyn and lillian are too small to appreciate the power struggles surrounding their country, but their parents sergei and valeria obviously are not. it is definitely concerning. it definitely seems more tense than in past times that we were concerned about this. i would say it is definitely increasing, like, anxiety and stuff, for sure. of course i am afraid. i don't want ukraine to be just like donbas right now, just like donetsk. it will be very... it is a nightmare for me. if i see others do it, says ivan, i am ready to defend my country. i am not going to run away, but then again there might not be anywhere to run away to. moscow denies that it is planning an invasion, but it is easy to forget ukraine's already endured eight years of russian aggression. it has brought fighting, cyber attacks, misinformation and constant uncertainty. next week, the us will continue to discuss russia's demands that nato will both scale back its military presence and rule out ever letting ukraine join. for the country at the heart of it, that uncertainty goes on. james waterhouse, bbc news, in kyiv. earlier i spoke to ukaranian jounralist, natalya gumenyuk, journalist, natalya gumenyuk, who explained how people are feeling throughout the country. since the conflict is still diplomatic, nothing really going on, neither in kyiv or even in the conflict zone in the east of ukraine where some of the part of the ukrainian territory are under the control of the russian proxies, but the concerns are there. people feel like they cannot afford to be consumed by the anxiety and fear, so the only answer is to pursue. while of course the different things is for the army, which is on alert, which is preparing itself as these scenarios develop. but these are two different things, the civilians and the army. and do people there think that the west and the united states are doing enough to stand up for ukraine to try to deter the russians? people feel that ukraine are a bit cornered by this very complex structure of the global security when ukraine is threatened because it is not in nato, but there is nothing... but anything the west can do could be considered as a provocation by russia, to even we heard this news about the deployment of the us lethal aid just to ensure it is all about the defence, it is not about any threat to russia. but indeed, ukrainians are concerned to be left behind when this crisis or something would be perceived as just something very local depending on the ukrainians. so it is not like they feel betrayed, but of course this moment that the west is probably not the strongest at the moment, yes, ukrainians do feel that partially. and even if putin doesn't invade now, it is always a threat, isn't it, hanging over ukraine? do ukrainians feel they want to be in nato to give them additional security protection? so, anytime there is a threat russia, the support to joining nato —— so, anytime there is a threat from russia, the support to joining nato from the ukrainian population, according to the polls, is growing. and the more it happens, it feels like ukraine is not protected because it has a single country, it is not a member of the alliance. so that is more the case. butjust to ensure that the talks... as a journalist, i cannot speak on behalf of the whole country, but of course i am following quite a lot of polls and the moods in different towns. so ukrainians rather feel that they would anyway resist and the cost would be very high depending on what this incursion could be, which could be very different scenario so it is very hard to prepare. but in the end ukraine would be the one who would, you know, the ukrainian army would fight. and the ukrainian people, it is up to them to resist. william wragg, the conservative mp who accused government whips of trying to �*blackmail�* some mps trying to oust borisjohnson, says he's due to meet the police next week to discuss his claims. he's been backed by the labour mp chris bryant, who says any such behaviour would be illegal. downing street says it's not seen any evidence to support the allegations, but would look closely if proof were presented. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticas. already under pressure, the coming days could prove decisive for boris johnson. now there is a new concern — the fact that one of the main rebel mps, who have already written letters of no confidence in him, is due to talk to the police possibly on monday. the mp william wragg this week alleged yet been told others had faced threats they might lose funding for their constituencies if they did not back the prime minister. the intimidation of a member of parliament is a serious matter. moreover, the reports of which i am aware would seem to constitute blackmail. on wednesday, mrjohnson was there when another of the rebels, christian wakeford, defected to labour. he claims he was told some time ago funding for a school might not happen if he did not support the government over free school meals. today a senior labour mp said he had heard more claims. i must have spoken to about a dozen tory mps in the last few days who have made similar allegations about whips either offering to withdraw, you know, financial support for their constituencies, either from the political parties, so for campaigning, or for their constituents. downing street says if evidence emerges, it will be looked at seriously, but it is not investigating as it is not aware of anything to back up the claims. and tory mps are waiting to see if there is more substance to them. i have voted against the government on occasions when i thought it right, and i have to say i have always had a very close relationship with the chief whip and indeed a very productive relationship with whips, so i am waiting to hear more about this because it is not something i have seen or been told about. the other person looking for evidence is sue gray, the civil servant investigating the downing street parties. her report should come this week. the question for borisjohnson, who is at the official country retreat of chequers, can he survive it unscathed? he is thought to be busy plotting is strategy and calling his mps —— he is thought to be busy plotting his strategy and calling his mps try to secure their support. damian grammaticas, bbc news. a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of an 86—year—old woman and the attempted murder of her 88—year—old husband. freda walker was found dead at her home in langwithjunction, derbyshire, a week ago. ken walker was found severely injured and remains in hospital in a critical condition. 0ur reporter heidi booth has more. dressed in greyjoggers and a grey jumper, vasile culea appeared for a matter of minutes before magistrates today. he spoke in romanian only to confirm his name and address, and the charges were read to him via a romanian court translator. he is charged with the murder of 86—year—old freda walker and the attempted murder of 88—year—old kenneth walker. freda was found dead at her home address a week ago today by a concerned neighbour. her husband ken was found with serious injuries and is still in hospital in critical condition. mr culea was arrested at his home address on grove road in church warsop on thursday. he has been remanded in custody and will next appear in court at derby crown court on tuesday next week, the 25th of january. derbyshire police have said they are still investigating this incident and would like to hear from anybody who has any information. they ask that you come forward as soon as possible. heidi booth, bbc news, nottingham. two women have been taken to hospital after a knife attack in north west london. it happened in station road, harrow. police say the injured women were slashed and a third woman was punched by the suspect. a woman has been detained and taken to hospital for mental health assessment. the royal college of gps is calling on the government to delay its policy of compulsory covid vaccines for frontline healthcare workers in england over concerns it could worsen problems with staff shortages. hundreds of nhs workers took to the streets of london this afternoon, in protest against the new rules. currently, staff have until the 3rd of february to receive their first dose to allow enough time to be fully vaccinated by the deadline of 1st april. the department of health and social care said there were no plans to delay the policy. let's take a look at the latest government figures. there were over 76,800 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, but that figure does not include scotland. on average, just over 91,700 new cases were reported per day in the last week. the latest figures show there were just under 18,000 people in hospital being treated for coronavirus on thursday. 297 deaths were reported in the latest 2a hour period — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test — though there will be some amongst this number who won't have died from covid. on average in the past week, 270 deaths were announced every day. 0n vaccinations, over 36.8 million people have had a boosterjab, which means 64% of people aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. the un has condemned an air strike by the saudi—led coalition on a detention centre in yemen. the country's houthi rebels, who have been fighting the saudi—led coalition, say at least 82 people were killed and more than 260 others injured. it follows nights of bombing raids, after a rocket fired by houthi rebels killed three people in the united arab emirates earlier this week. earlier i spoke to jacob burns, communications adviser for medecins sans frontieres. i have been speaking to colleagues inside the city this morning. they describe that in the early hours of friday morning, they were at home, they have the sound ofjets flying over the city and then three explosions. we know that the air strike hit the city prison where there are reported to have been upwards of 1500 people detained at the time. the air strike has caused hundreds of deaths and injuries, the latest numbers that we have been given by the ministry of health in yemen is that there have been 82 people killed in this strike and 266 people wounded. one of my colleagues inside the city was in a hospital this morning and he said the hospital was facing a very difficult situation with so many wounded that some of the casualties were lying on the floor in the hospital because there were no more beds for them. what is msf able to do in the aftermath of this tragedy and also to help the general humanitarian disaster that is afflicting this country? we are present inside the city, we made immediately some donations to this hospital. we sent a truck full of medical supplies from the capital to the city last night and are working with the ministry of health to see how we can respond as quickly as possible to these huge needs that have been caused by this air strike. and we are working across the country in yemen, across front lines and what we see is while there are these moments of intense violence, after seven years of the civil war, we see every day the effects of these less dramatic but no less serious long—term crises which are caused by the war such as the economic crises and the almost total collapse of the health care system in the country. it is seven years, it began in 2015, do you see any way out of this? is this horror going to keep continuing? it is definitely a moment where the conflict has intensified again and colleagues in the capital have been reporting to me each night this week of heavy air strikes. there were again air strikes this morning so it feels we are caught in a moment where the conflict is escalating yet again and it is hard to see how that finishes. the headlines on bbc news: the first shipment of american military aid american military aid to ukraine arrives there after talks over russia's troop build—up on the border. police will meet a conservative mp who's accused government whips of trying to "blackmail" politicians who've tried to oust borisjohnson. a man appears in court charged with the murder of an elderly woman, and the attempted murder of her husband at their home in derbyshire. the port of dover has acknowleged that since the beginning of the year new customs controls for goods heading to the eu have been contributing to big queues on the road outside. special travel restrictions have been used ten times this year to ease heavy congestion on the a20 in kent, prompting anger among many drivers. chief executive of the port, doug bannister, explained why these queues came about. since the beginning of the year, there has been increased transaction times at the border due to the carrier is having to check customs paperwork at the check—in process. but equally normally for this time of year we have vessels that go out on refit, sort of normal maintenance activities. we have got three vessels out. we are also doing a bit of maintenance in the port which means that our buffer zone space has got a bit of slightly reduced capacity. all this has come together that has called upon our use of the dover tap, the traffic access protocol. which is a normal operation for managing the flows into the port. the operation for managing the flows into the port-— operation for managing the flows into the port. the chief executive ofthe into the port. the chief executive of the port _ into the port. the chief executive of the port of dover. _ tonga's clean—up continues with the help of foreign aid one week after the volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated the pacific island. emergency supplies of water are being distributed in tonga a week after the undersea volcanic eruption. supplies have been arriving by sea and air from australia, new zealand and the uk. the united nations says tonga will depend on emergency food supplies for some time to come. 0ur correspondent phil mercer in sydney has the latest on the international humanitarian aid efforts and the work to reconnect an undersea communication cable. it is among a raft of catastrophic damage to property and infrastructure, and as you say, aid coming in from many, many countries led by australia and new zealand. water is a significant issue. any water supplies on the archipelago were contaminated by that blanket of ash that rained down on this pacific nation of about 105,000 people and this will be an international aid effort like no other. authorities in tonga are introducing very strict disease control measures because tonga has just recorded only one known coronavirus case since the pandemic began, so clearly it doesn't want to recover from one disaster by inviting another in. so what they are doing is foreign aid workers, in order to go into the country, will have to adhere to three weeks of isolation. if you look in other parts of the pacific in recent days, kiribati, a population about the same of tonga, was covid free but now is going into lockdown as is samoa, so the authorities in tonga being very careful as that international aid continues to roll in. phil mercer reporting. the hollywood star arnold schwarzenegger has been involved in a multi—vehicle crash in los angeles. a woman has been taken to hospital. a spokesperson for the former california governor said he was unharmed. earlier i spoek to our correspondent in los angeles, david willis, to get —— earlier i spoke to our correspondent in los angeles, david willis, to get the latest. the incident occurred in the city of brentwood, not far from arnold schwarzenegger's home. it is an expensive area. several other movie stars are thought to have homes there, including the actress gwyneth paltrow. and as you say, the los angeles police department says that a total of four vehicles were involved in this incident, which is thought to have occurred as arnold schwarzenegger's suv was attempting to turn left onto the famous sunset boulevard when it was involved in a head—on collision with a red prius. now, such was the force of the impact that the suv ended up on top of the red prius before rolling back onto a porsche, which was just behind it at the time. now, a representative for arnold schwarzenegger has confirmed to the bbc that he was indeed behind the wheel of the suv when this incident occurred. he was unhurt, but the driver of the red prius was taken to hospital. she is thought to have suffered head injuries. they are not thought, though, to be serious. it may sound like something out of a science fiction movie — but in a uk first, a woman from london has been granted the gift of better sight thanks to a bionic eye. the ground—breaking operation involved inserting a microchip into the patient�*s retina. victoria hollins has been finding out more. here comes the glasses. making the final adjustments for a patient who is virtually blind in her left eye. these glasses contain a camera, linked to a small computer which connects with a microchip recently inserted under her retina. the chip is placed in the centre of the retina, which is the seeing part of the eye, and we can stimulate the chip for her to start to see different types of signals. so that shows that we will hopefully be able to now train her to see things within the centre of her eye, which she never saw before. i'd be able to see my grandchildren and when i look in the mirror, i'm going to get a shock! chuckles. this is part of a clinical trial five years in the making, which is why we are not using the patient�*s name. she had the chip inserted a month ago. this is her first set of eye tests. keep looking a bit up! once the lights are out, the experts can begin to work out what she can see. so, what is the colour? green. i will be able to go out more, because i have not been going out all that much — ijust go out to just a church on saturday and i don't go out now during the week, so maybe it will be better now if i can see better, yeah. age—related macular degeneration causes loss of vision in the centre of the eye. it is the most common cause of significant sight loss in the developed world. when i first heard about this particular technology and seeing the results from stanford, i thought this has potential to really be a game changer, and we're now seeing in a clinical trial so from a personal note, i am just so happy now that i can talk to patients about a new technology that potentially could benefit them, and all of these years, there has been nothing. this grandmother will have to undergo many training sessions to encourage improvements in her vision but moorfields eye hospital hopes to recruit more people into the study and help the millions affected by a life—changing disease. for the last eight months, with every passing sunrise and sunset, a solitary figure has stepped into a glass box — eight stories above the ground in hull. it's part of an art installation called the �*hull vigil�*, which aims to encourage a selection of local volunteers to peacefully keep watch over their city. crispin rolfe has been speaking to some of them. the day that i did my vigil, there was a fantastic sunrise and a beautiful harvest moon. i was doubly blessed. it was extremely humbling to have that really unique perspective over my home city and feel like that protector, because there was that sense of responsibility and duty whilst looking over everybody. lovely to see the sun set over the city, and being in that box was just surreal, really surreal. every sunrise and every sunset since the 3rd of may last year, watched and witnessed over hull. it was september the 20th. i chose that date because it marked 50 years since i first came to hull, i came for three years, and like many people, i just stayed. a vigil made even more poignant by the times being lived in. the last 18 months that we've been through has been tough on everybody in different ways, but considering it's an experience that you take part in alone, people have found that it's actually incredibly connecting. i remember being pushed up the ramp onto the ambulance. and for key worker kerry and herfamily... it's hard when you live together, so that you put vulnerable adults at risk. ..after her entire household caught covid at the height of the pandemic, the vigils provided a brief moment of peace. in the job that i do, being in a busy family home, somebody always wants a piece of me. and just to be in that moment with no distractions, no phone, nothing, it was just so calm. i picked the 11th of november, armistice day. i thought it would be really poignant moment for me, just watch the sunrise over the city and really reflect on everything that day. i wore a dress covered in poppies, not that i think anyone can see it from a distance, from the ground looking up. my parents took a photo — very blurry! the vigil�*s not over yet. for the next four months, a lucky few will be left alone with their thoughts as the sun sets or rises over hull. my dad has done the vigil, and my husband has also done vigil and my sister is due to do it. it was great, yes. it was good thinking inside the box, in fact. that was crispin rolfe reporting. former olympic champion cyclist chris boardman will head up a new organisation to encourage cycling and walking in england. active travel england wants to improve infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. 0ur north of england correspondent fiona trott reports from york. angry shouting. it's meant to be healthy but cycling can be hazardous. that's because not all towns and cities have dedicated routes. 0ne aim of active travel england is to make sure cyclists and walkers are considered in future planning applications. you want places where your kids can walk or ride to school and you can travel to work on a bike, and to do that, you won't do it unless you feel safe and you can look out a car window and go, "oh, that looks quite nice." that's what this agency will do. active travel england will be based in york, and campaigners here welcome it. i think it's brilliant, really, because we have got lots of good little bits but they are always let down by a busyjunction or some scary bit where traffic goes. secure cycle parking is another part of the strategy, to link up with rail services, and there will be subsidies for businesses to use bikes to carry cargo as well. but above all else it's just about making our towns and cities feel safer and less polluted so we want to walk or cycle, but will it work? york is so small as it is, so it's more connecting outside city centre to other places, like the university, getting those connections going, where people are actually cycling. you've got to start somewhere. you've got to invest in things. the more people you get cycling, and walking, the more people are likely to look at those people cycling and walking and start cycling themselves. the strategy is part of a £2 billion package already announced for walking and cycling schemes over a five year period. but some campaigners say its success will depend on drivers changing their behaviour, too. fiona trott, bbc news, york. learner drivers in wales are having to travel hundreds of miles to take their driving tests, with some even booking tests in england. a covid backlog and a shortage of examiners has led to a recruitment campaign, as david grundy reports. the 17—year—olds is having a driving lesson with her instructor stephen. it is the usual stuff — using her mirrors, navigating roundabouts, and being generally safe on the roads. covid put a stop to driving lessons, and as a result there is no a backlog of people who want to take their tests. that means it will be their tests. that means it will be the end of may before this woman is able to do hers. and she will have to do it almost two hours away in aberystwyth. my to do it almost two hours away in aberystwyth— to do it almost two hours away in aberystwyth. to do it almost two hours away in abe s h. g ., ., aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three da s aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off — aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off work _ aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off work to _ aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off work to take _ aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off work to take me - aberystwyth. my mum has had to book three days off work to take me there i three days off work to take me there so i can get familiar with the area and do my test when i feel comfortable. if there were tests available here, we would have avoided that hassle completely. fibre avoided that hassle completely. abra smith is almost _ avoided that hassle completely. abra smith is almost a _ avoided that hassle completely. abra smith is almost a two hour drive. cardigan is over 100 miles in almost three hours away. carmarthen is even further. we have heard examples across wales of drivers booking their tests across the border in england. that is just those who have been able to book their tests. availability is really limited, with no free slots in some places until june. the dv essay says it is trying to tackle the backlog by recruiting an additional 300 examiners. it is also asking those who have retired recently to consider coming back temporarily. it is also offering tests on weekends and public holidays. in cardiff, damien has had a long day. he quit hisjob as an examiner in november after 18 years. he says he will make more money as an instructor. i he says he will make more money as an instructor-— an instructor. i left basically because we _ an instructor. i left basically because we were _ an instructor. i left basically because we were being - an instructor. i left basically i because we were being asked an instructor. i left basically - because we were being asked to do more and more work for the same pay. it was a big decision, but ultimately it will lead to better finances for me. the ultimately it will lead to better finances for me.— ultimately it will lead to better finances for me. ,, ., , finances for me. the pcs union says the lans finances for me. the pcs union says the plans to — finances for me. the pcs union says the plans to tackle _ finances for me. the pcs union says the plans to tackle the _ finances for me. the pcs union says the plans to tackle the backlog - finances for me. the pcs union says the plans to tackle the backlog of i the plans to tackle the backlog of test will take time. it says what is really needed is betterjob security and pay for examiners. this woman is clocking up a few more hours before she hopes she is able to ditch the l plates for good. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich.